Calls about illegal fireworks kept local firefighter busy Wednesday

Every Fourth of July, lighted fireworks fall onto “tons” of homes across the county, sparking worried homeowners to call 911 and report their houses are afire, a fire official said Thursday.

Homeowners in Santa Clarita Valley are no exception, added Inspector Tony Imbrenda of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

“We gets tons of people calling in that their house is on fire,” Imbrenda said Thursday. “This year was actually a little more mellow than other years.”

Of the calls received from worried homeowners in the Santa Clarita Valley, there was “nothing that was real serious,” Imbrenda said.

None of the fire calls escalated to a full-response call for a house on fire.

Regardless, fire officials are preparing a report on the number of residential fire calls sparked by fireworks, he said.“The (annual) study is going to look at the last 48 hours,” he said Thursday.

Local firefighters responded Wednesday to several reports of fireworks landing on homes and found evidence some people had been setting off illegal fireworks on the holiday, a fire captain said.

“We did confiscate some fireworks,” said Capt. Marshal Oldham of Fire Station 126 on Citrus Street. “We’ll be sending those fireworks downtown as part of our protocol.”

Asked about responding to reports from people worried that fireworks had landed on their homes, Oldham said: “It’s constant.

“From dusk to dawn we received reports and responded,” he said. “We actively patrol on the Fourth.”Johnson, based in Los Angeles, said the report detailing the department’s response to fireworks landing on homes is expected at year end.